Ridesharing service Lyft will ring in the new year with a new type of taxi light.

Come 2017, the company is shaving off its pink Glowstache, replacing it with a less hairy in-car connected device—Amp.

The Beats Pill speaker-shaped accessory attaches to the vehicle's dashboard, making it visible through the windshield; commuters can identify their ride by matching an individual Amp's color to that displayed in their mobile app.

Inside the car, an inward-facing screen on the Amp can display messages. "Passengers will be welcomed by name when their rides begin, so for instance, the screen will say 'Hi Stephanie' when you get in," a Lyft spokesperson said. "When drivers connect the Amp, they will be greeted by name as well."

The Amp will also display news and promo codes for passengers or warning message for drivers, like low battery, or Bluetooth activation reminders.

Rolling out first to folks in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York City on Dec. 31, Amp is expected to hit the road in all of Lyft's 200-plus markets by mid-2017.

"With the introduction of Amp comes the retirement of Lyft's beloved pink mustache, which has evolved from the fuzzy Carstache on car grilles, to the sleek Glowstache dashboard ornament," Ethan Eyler, Lyft's head of ride experience, said in a statement.

"Both paved the way for Amp, which will sit on dashboards, illuminating the streets with an iconic glow while better connecting drivers and passengers," he added.

Related

Lyft also revealed its latest ad campaign: Ride on the Bright Side. Four 30-second TV spots (video above) and outdoor advertising are set to run through the end of 2016, highlighting the company's experience, driver quality, and safety.

That safety-first attitude is underscored by a recent partnership with Budweiser: Through Dec. 31, any passenger 21 years or older can get a free ride (valued up to $10) from Lyft on weekends and holidays.

The Uber competitor, however, landed in hot water early this month when researchers uncovered a "pattern of racial discrimination by drivers" using the ridesharing apps, though Lyft pushed back on those conclusions.

Stephanie began as a PCMag reporter in May 2012. She moved to New York City from Frederick, Md., where she worked for four years as a multimedia reporter at the second-largest daily newspaper in Maryland. She interned at Baltimore magazine and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (in the town of Indiana, in the state of Pennsylvania) with a degree in journalism and mass communications.
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